Hapadog vs Ministop Bicol Express — the only two things I ate yesterday

So I went to the Taking Back Sunday concert yesterday. I'll actually be blogging so many things about it soon including my thoughts on Typecast, the super awesome performance of TBS, and the disadvantages of being in front sound-wise. But that might be long and I'll do it as soon as I'm not lazy. I figured I'll start with something light and talk about the food I ate yesterday. Hapadog (the "japanese style" hotdogs) and Ministop's Bicol express are the only two things I ate, actually, and everything else I consumed was just alcohol. I don't really have pictures so you have to use your imagination for this one.

Hapadog has always been intriguing. A bunch of friends have been giving me testimonials about how good it is. I've seen it before in Mercato and more recently in the newest building of Alabang Town Center. And so I was drinking with my friends as we were waiting for our tickets from Cash Cash Pinoy to arrive. The place we drank in was right across the Hapadog place so I figured I'll try it out cos I've never tried it anyway. I got this one called temptation or something like that for 175 pesos. It was a tempura hotdog of some sort. It was actually pretty good. I just think it's so overpriced.

This is where the "willingness to pay" of the consumer or the difference between worth and cost comes into play. I mean, I would have willingly and wholeheartedly paid around the same price and got Bon Chon chicken wings instead. For Hapadog, it tastes good, but I personally just didn't find it worth the cost. This is my own personal preference. I haven't tried anything else from their menu but then the first impression wasn't really that good. We actually saw John Nolan walking around in the same area and we got a photo with him. Again, something I'll post when I write about TBS in Manila as soon as I'm not lazy.

After that, we decided to drink some more and have some Slurpee rum while on the line, a technique I learned from a friend. Not only is your drinking concealed, the taste of the alcohol is also masked by the sweetness and coldness of the Slurpee. It's actually really good.

Then after the amazing performance, we were so tired that we decided to head back south. We were supposed to drink with a bunch of friends but then we were so tired and so we just decided to eat in Ministop.

My friend recommended the Bicol express. I do trust his recommendation because I learned about Ministop chicken from him (this was the time when I didn't even have Ministop outside my village yet). Not only does he eat in Ministop all the time, we actually almost got banned from one. It's a long story and we really didn't do anything wrong. It was just a manager having a bad day, I guess.

I love spicy food and I love coconut milk. That being said, obviously I love Bicol express. I actually hate it that in our region in Asia, our cuisine has the least spicy recipes, Bicol being one of the only regions that actually love spicy food.

I've always been wary of the rice toppings they sold in paper cups. I mean, it's only 49 pesos so I do expect that the serving will be very small. Surprisingly, it was a full cup of rice with a lot of sauce and meat. I don't know if this varies per branch, but the one outside my village is very generous with the Bicol express servings. Although it won't really fill me up, I could probably have two orders or get something else like fried chicken or any of their other rice topping meals. For a fraction of the price, I felt that I was more satisfied with the Bicol express. But of course, I was aslo tired and hungry. And they do say that hunger is the best sauce.

I'm actually resisting the urge to go to Ministop right now and get one.

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